And so Nessarose and Elphaba Thropp began their lives as the daughters of a governor. Nessa had deemed herself worthy of accompanying her father on all of his important missions to other provinces, but insisted that she take her sister along every time. They were invited to places they'd never dreamed of reaching: Gillikin, Quadling Country, Winkie Country and every square metre of Munchkinland. These offered the perfect opportunities for the governor to showcase the future Eminence and his pride and joy, ignoring the fact that Elphaba was next in line for the Eminency and any of her children would overtake Nessa.
Still, nothing stopped him from leaving Elphaba in whatever room she had been situated in, where she silently plotted her future. The more time she spent alone; the more time she read and the more she read, the more she learned of what lay out there. She made a mental list of reasons that her father should eventually send her to Shiz University and stayed on her best behaviour, waiting for the day he'd give his consent. From there it was impossible for her not to reach her ultimate goal: city life.
Having something to work toward made Elphaba more comfortable. Not necessarily comfortable with herself, but comfortable with doing whatever it took to get to where she wanted to be. The one thing, if anything, that was missing was the unignorable lack of human contact. The closest she ever had to a friend was her sister, which was both something more and something less than friendship. Every conversation was a competition between them. Nessa was soft as a rose, while Elphaba was forcibly hardened; savage and ruthless like an animal. One similarity being that both the Thropp sisters held their own grace in the face of life and would never lose it.
Meanwhile across Oz a young prince by the name of Fiyero Tigelaar was making the most of his royalty and his parent's lenience. Kiamo Ko was known for the infamous teenage gatherings held almost weekly for the simple reason that life is too short to waste on boredom.
"I'm only here one more week," Avaric warned his friend as they seated themselves for lunch.
"Don't worry, my friend, I have something special in mind," Fiyero assured him, as he sat in his usual chair. Always one seat away from the head.
"Would you like me to provide the refreshments?"
Fiyero laughed, but with a serious note implied. "What kind of host would that make me?"
"A very poor one," Avaric admitted, shrugging and rolling his eyes.
"So it's settled," Fiyero finished. "You just show up this upcoming Friday and enjoy yourself."
Avaric nodded, ignoring the servant setting a dish in front of him. "And perhaps, there will be other guests?"
"Yes, Avaric," Fiyero answered knowingly. "There will be girls."
"And how may I ask did you convince the parents?"
"You know my parents don't mind my parties," Fiyero responded, restlessly rising from his seat and pouring a drink for himself and his friend. His parents' lack of interest and involvement was a sensitive subject that he spent majority of his time denying. "They'll be at another meeting anyway."
"Now my parents may not be monarchs," Avaric said with a full mouth, "but at least they make time for me."
"Thank you. It's those Avaric comments that make me feel so fantastic," Fiyero replied good-naturedly. For as long as they were friends, Avaric would not realize how his comments did exactly the opposite.
However, Avaric continued on as if he hadn't said anything. "So how many wonderful ladies can I expect to wish me a safe departure, my good friend?"
"The usual."
Avaric groaned. "You need to get more creative!"
"I haven't the faintest idea what you're going on about now." Fiyero let out an exasperated sigh. "Are tribal girls suddenly not enough for you?"
"I'm just saying that you need to expand your horizons."
"How about providing me an example?" Fiyero asked.
"Well..." Avaric paused as he drifted off into a separate train of thought. "You said your parents were at a meeting! With who?"
"I don't know..." Fiyero trailed off. "Munchkinland."
Avaric clapped his hands and let his fork clatter against his plate. "Bingo! Good ol' Governor o' Munchkinland!"
"I'm not following."
"There's a surprise," Avaric spat out. "There's a daughter in line for the Eminency, maybe you should get to know her." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "A temporary Munchkinland/Winkie alliance could be beneficial."
"Av, she's got to be...maybe fourteen...fifteen? Well, sixteen at the most," Fiyero decided. "Unless you're referring to the older one."
Avaric perked up. "Older one?"
Fiyero laughed at the memory. "I don't think she's your type...unless colour is your strong suit."
"I'm not picky."
"Well you should be when it comes to girls like that."
"I never thought you would have such high standards," Avaric scoffed.
"Let's just say over in Munchkinland, the colour of impertinence is green."
Avaric's chair scraped the floor as he pushed away from the table. "Well, I suppose tribal girls will have to do, you'll probably end up with one of them one day anyway."
"Not in this lifetime!" Fiyero exclaimed, following Avaric to the door. "I'll do anything to get out of that, even attend university."
Avaric laughed crudely. "I'm sure you would do very well in university, wouldn't you? Well, I've got to go. Don't disappoint me."
Closing the door as his friend wandered down the path, Fiyero headed to his room to prepare himself for another tiresome event his parents would drag him off to.
"Elphaba, you have to, have to, have to, have to take me!" Nessa whined.
"Nessarose, for the last time, I said no," Elphaba replied sternly. "Not now. Not ever. Not in this lifetime or the next, so find a book and calm yourself until Papa returns."
Nessa threw herself back dramatically, so she was flat against the bed. "What's the point of even travelling with Papa if you're willing to let me rot in this dingy room?"
Watching her sister apathetically for a moment, Elphaba decided it wasn't worth her time and curled around her book. "I'm sure the inside of a spoiled prince's castle is not part of sightseeing."
"Elphaba, it's the only party I've ever been invited to in my whole life!" Nessa cried, flailing her legs.
"That makes one more than me. How does it feel?" Elphaba chuckled.
"Don't be so selfish! If Shell were older he would surely take me!"
"That's a shame, isn't it?" was the indifferent reply from the ledge below the window.
"If you do this for me, I will never ever ask anything of you ever again, Elphaba! Please. Lower me onto my knees and I'll beg!" Nessa pleaded with a tone of dead seriousness. Not only was the idea of the opposite sex becoming enticing, but the idea of friends and consorting with girls her age.
"I will do no such thing and don't you go around making promises you can't keep," Elphaba replied curtly.
"You'll get out of this dreary room. You haven't been out the whole week!"
"I don't mind it in here," Elphaba confessed. "In fact, I find it rather peaceful without my present company."
Nessa pushed out her lower lip in a pout. "You don't even want to see Kiamo Ko?"
"The only place I want to see is Shiz University and I'm not sacrificing Papa's trust for something so petty and ridiculous!" Elphaba responded firmly and immediately regretted her tone.
Turning her fair head away, Nessa masked a smile from her sister, knowing the ideal way to hook her on the plan. She always had Elphaba wrapped around her finger. "Elphaba," she started quietly, "you promised Mama you'd keep me happy. I'm not happy here!" Elphaba looked away and Nessa applauded the ease at bringing about her sister's discomfort. "This is the one thing I want to do here. You always keep your promises to Papa. What about poor Mama rolling around in her grave because all she wants is for her daughters to live happily, but knowing that one daughter is depriving the other of that?"
"What is it you really want me to do Nessa?" Elphaba asked touchily.
"I need you to get me out and take me to the castle." Nessa dropped her sob story quicker than the snap of two fingers.
"Am I required to stay?"
"Of course!" Nessa cried. "How else should I get home? Besides, you'll have fun meeting people anyway."
A sigh. "Nessa, I don't-"
"Elphaba, just this once listen to me!"
Looking out the window at the looming castle ahead, Elphaba asked, "When is it?"
Nessa grinned. "A few hours!"
"Where did you get the invitation?" Elphaba asked irritably, rising from her comfortable corner and reaching for one of Nessa's dresses, so they could begin to get ready.
"At the meeting Papa brought me to! The prince slipped it into my pocket!"
"Oh, please do something about your hair! If I only I had hands I could untangle that mess of a braid!"
"Nessa, haven't you ordered me around enough?" Elphaba asked tiredly, fixing Nessa's hair in the mirror. Apparently it took the prospect of others' opinions to set her sister into full irritation mode.
"At least wear it down or pin it up on the sides like you did mine!" Nessa ordered. "Nanny always tells you the same thing, but you just can't seem to listen to anyone."
Elphaba turned away from the mirror and rolled her eyes before pulling the pins out of her hair and letting it fall around her shoulders.
"It makes a world of difference," Nessa reassured her, thinking that she was too generous with her compliments. "Now are we ready?" she asked giddily, shaking with excitement.
"Ready as I'll ever be," Elphaba muttered and supported Nessa down the stairs and out onto the road.
"It's a good thing it isn't far," Nessa grumbled. "These shoes are killer!"
Elphaba glanced down at Nessa's ruby slippers and continued onward in a blank trance until they were at the open doors of Kiamo Ko, bathed in the bright lights.
"It's so grand!" Nessa exclaimed.
"Welcome, welcome!" a cheerful voice called out to them above the music and the chatter.
Elphaba exhaled loudly as the prince himself moved forward to greet them.
"Miss Nessarose! Always a pleasure!" He pressed a kiss to her cheek and then turned to Elphaba "And allow me to show you some Vinkun hospitality." He held out a hand, which she ignored and he pulled away edgily. "Can I get you anything?" He made as if to offer Nessa the drink in his hand.
"Oh-" Nessa flushed, "-I don't drink."
"No shame in that," he responded agreeably. "And as for your sister?" he asked cautiously, noticing the way Elphaba was looking around in both disgust and curiosity and forgetting how he had had the same expression when investigating her home.
"No, she doesn't," Nessa replied sweetly, feeling slightly shy for the first time.
"Perhaps you'd like to sit with the other girls?"
Elphaba snapped back into reality and glared at the prince in front of her. "What makes you think that's what we want to do?"
Nessa leant back and nudged her sister with her hip before turning her attention to Fiyero. "That would be lovely."
He led them into a separate room where people, mostly Vinkuns, were standing in small groups talking contentedly, with the exception of a rather arrogant fellow amidst a crowd of a dozen listeners. "That's Avaric. If you value your sanity, don't get involved with him."
"Wasn't planning on it," Elphaba muttered.
Fiyero surveyed her curiously. "You're never in a good mood, are you?"
"I hardly believe you've known me long enough to judge my character," Elphaba replied curtly.
He laughed. "I'm sure you have a very colourful character, I was just hoping that maybe I could see you smile for once."
"You've known me for two whole minutes and haven't provoked a smile," Elphaba pointed out quietly.
"I believe we've met before," Fiyero said with a glint in his eye and then led them to a group of people sitting comfortably in the corner, deep in conversation.
"Girls," Fiyero commanded, grabbing their attention instantly, "I found some new friends for you." He shot an annoyed look at Elphaba who was still grumbling under her breath.
Carefully moving Nessa onto the empty loveseats and joining her on the soft cushions, Elphaba watched Fiyero move towards Avaric's rowdy group and the guests across from her eye the newcomers warily.
"So, where are you from?" one of them dared to ask.
"Nest Hardings in Munchkinland," Nessa supplied. "It's much different from here. We don't ever have get-togethers like this! It's my first time," she confessed, displaying so much ignorance that the Vinkun girls felt sorry for her. Everywhere, teenagers in Oz held parties. The Thropp girls just never got invited.
But from there seemed to be an instant connection between Nessa and the tribal girls and they continued on in their conversation including her. However, Elphaba wasn't so easily accepted. She had no opinion on who was the best dressed or who was the most attractive and definitely had no desire to join in on their pointless prattle. Perhaps it would have softened the blow if she hadn't made it so painfully obvious by rolling her eyes and looking around desperately for something interesting to occupy her time.
"I wonder if he'll ask me to dance."
"Oh, he should since you wore that lovely dress."
"Do you see her over there flirting with him?"
"You should go say something."
"I don't know what to say, he's just so handsome!"
Elphaba tried to block out the sound of their voices, but found it difficult when Nessa was beside her, enthusiastically engaging in their gossip. Finally, Elphaba rose from her seat and snapped, "Maybe you should quit talking and actually do what you say you will! You're all the same anyway; you might as well be called One to Five!" She gestured at the five couch occupants across from Nessa and then turned to Nessa. "I hope you do everything in your power to prevent yourself from becoming Six!" As she walked away she heard them gasp and couldn't have cared less.
For a while Elphaba wandered around aimlessly, wishing that Nessa had not seen her attempt to sneak a book and order her to leave it in their room. Finally, she decided to come full circle and rejoin Nessa and her company of clones. Before rounding the corner to where they were, Elphaba stopped to look at a tapestry on the wall and couldn't help but overhear part of the conversation.
"Dear Oz, Nessarose, I don't know how you put up with that!"
"Oh, it's embarrassing just being around her!"
"How are you related again? I mean you're so pretty and well..."
"Well..." Elphaba could tell it was Nessa's voice, hesitating between loyalty to her sister and earning the loyalty of these girls. "She is really different I suppose. She takes care of me, but never really considers what I want, you know what I mean?"
"Oh I completely understand! She seems really...what's the word?"
"Difficult?"
"Positively green with jealousy!"
A fit of giggles overtook the group and Elphaba stood silent. She knew people laughed at her, but this was her first taste of the bitterness that brought people together. As much as she didn't want it to, it bothered her immensely. Leaning back against the wall, Elphaba slid down and tilted her head back, content to stay on her own rather than face anyone else and have them pretend they weren't affected at all by her appearance; making the decision that she wouldn't let ignorant statements rule her life and distract her from what was really important.
"That's an interesting spot," called a playful voice.
Elphaba looked warily at the prince striding her way, a drink in each hand and a girl on each arm. "Say what you will, I'm having more fun here than anywhere else I was seated tonight."
"Is there something I can get you to make your night more interesting?" he asked politely, anxious to leave, but curious to stay at the same time.
"Could you please tell my sister that the party is over and it's time for us to leave?"
"But it's only just begun!" he replied, clearly offended.
"I don't mean to upset," Elphaba retorted irritably. "Well...I suppose I do, but I have more productive things that need to get done."
"Productive? This is productive! Having fun, letting go, enjoying yourself..."
"I'm afraid you've mistaken the definition of productive." Elphaba got up and started walking away.
"If you'd like, I could loan you a room for the next few hours. Somewhere a little more private where you could try to escape the horrible reality of making friends."
Elphaba turned slowly on her heel and observed him warily. "Why would you do that?"
"Well that's new."
"What? Someone questioning you?"
"No, someone not wanting to go up to my bedroom." He laughed and started off towards a set of stairs at the edge of the hall. "Are you coming?" he asked, seeing Elphaba rooted to the spot. Tentatively she followed him up the stairs and into a plain room across from them. "You have free reign," he said as he gestured around the room.
Elphaba's eyes were drawn instantly to a dusty book shelf in the corner of the room and she scrambled over to it, bending to read the titles. Picking out a few, Elphaba made herself comfortable on the very edge of the bed and opened the first one. She looked up and noticed Fiyero watching her interestedly. "Can I help you?"
"You're nothing like them. I don't know whether it should be encouraged or scorned."
"My skin will still be here no matter how people react," Elphaba pointed out bluntly.
"I wasn't talking about your skin," Fiyero replied, before closing the door behind him.
Fiyero shook Elphaba's shoulders and repeated over and over, "Wake up!"
Her eyes fluttered open and then she realized who was looking down at her and sat up instantly.
"Your sister's livid. She was ready to go a few hours ago," Fiyero stated. "You must have fallen asleep." He looked at the open book laid out in front of her. "I don't blame you. Could never get through that one myself...or any of the others for that matter..."
Elphaba jumped up from the bed. "Oh, I completely forgot! Nessa's going to murder me!"
She started heading toward the door, but Fiyero caught her hand. "I'm Fiyero. I don't believe I ever learned your name."
With a mischievous look on her face, Elphaba wrenched her hand away and replied, "I suppose I'll just have to remain a mystery to you then."
